Phillies-Brewers talking points

by Paul Hagen
Posted: October 03, 2008

What we're talking about after the Phillies' 5-2 win in Game 2:

* The Phillies knocked dominant Brewers lefthander CC Sabathia out of the game in the fourth inning after he had thrown 98 pitches. Maybe he was tired, making his fourth straight start on short rest. Maybe he just turns into a pumpkin in the postseason; he's now 2-3 with a 7.92 earned run average in five career playoff starts. Who cares?

* Shane Victorino returned to the No. 2 spot in the batting order and hit a grand slam in the second inning to break the game open. Charlie Manuel said he made the move because he remembered Victorino homering twice off Arizona's Randy Johnson, also a big lefty who throws hard, back in July.

* Pay no attention to those two rotten starts that ended Brett Myers' season. He said he was just a little tired and then backed that up by pitching seven strong innings. That's not just good news for last night. It's good news for the rest of the postseason, especially coming off Cole Hamels' dominant performance in Game 1 and 16-game winner Jamie Moyer's scheduled start in Game 3 tomorrow night in Milwaukee.

* Myers also helped with his bat. He battled back from an 0-2 count to wrangle a walk from Sabathia in the second inning, which helped set up the winning rally. That may have overshadowed how well he pitched.

* Brad Lidge, who threw 35 pitches and had to strand the tying runs in scoring position to save Game 1, retired the side in order last night. When it comes to drama in the bottom of the ninth, less is more.

* Who would have thought the Phillies would be up, 2-0, despite a combined 1-for-17 from Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell? However, the three have combined for seven walks.

* The Phillies have scored in just two of the 16 innings in which they have batted.

Index by Keyword
|
Index by Date
|
About Philly.com
|
Contact Us
|
Terms of Use & Privacy Statement
|
Copyright 2013